The restaurants attract diners such as Ricky Ly, a 26-year-old Orlando engineer who is "not going to go for an everyday fast-food burger. You want something new and premium and gourmet."

Ly likes Pine 22, which opened a year and a half ago in downtown Orlando. There, diners can choose among toppings that include herb goat-cheese spread, ginger soy glaze, dried cranberries and hard-boiled eggs. Burgers there run between $7.15 and $8.99, though some toppings cost extra.

"It's fantastic from an offerings standpoint as well as the taste," he said, waiting this week for his order: a turkey burger with black-bean-mango salsa and sweet-potato fries.

Pine 22 co-owner Suzanne Bonham said sales have jumped 10 percent this year and she hopes to open a second location in a few months.

Bonham, who also founded Urban Flats, said Pine 22 buys locally sourced food and its beef comes from cattle free of hormones or antibiotics.

BurgerFi also says its cows led a relatively cushy life before heading to the slaughterhouse, eating high-quality feed and given plenty of space to roam.

The South Florida chain will bring its burgers to Central Florida next month, opening in Winter Park. The chain has four restaurants and 20 under construction. It plans to open in Altamonte Springs and Lake Mary later this year.

Owners of The Melting Pot also decided to branch out with their Burger 21 restaurants. The small Tampa chain, which features 21 different types of burgers, plans to make Orlando its first expansion market, opening here within the next year.

Shula Burger, a new Fort Lauderdale-based chain from former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, has been talking with potential franchisees in the Orlando area.

Some chains outside Florida are also staking their claim here. Maryland-based Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries recently opened on East Colonial Drive in Orlando. Colorado-based Red Robin, which already has a restaurant in Port Orange, is considering a Winter Garden site.

And Graffiti Junktion is expanding as well. The Orlando-based chain, which calls itself an "American burger bar," says on its Website it will open its fourth restaurant in Lake Mary.

While Graffiti Junktion is a sit-down restaurant, most of the better-burger joints are what's known in the industry as "fast casual." That means customers still order at a counter, but the entrees are a step above traditional fast food.

Consumers like not only the higher-quality ingredients but the choices they can get, said Bonnie Riggs, restaurant analyst with NPD Group.

"Value in the consumers' mind is not all about the cheapest price," she said."It really is about fresh ingredients: quality food, good-tasting food, at reasonable and affordable prices."

Burgers at these restaurants typically run between $5 and $9 — but that's often without the premium toppings, or the fries on the side.

The price tag can turn off some customers, such as Ann Wood and Tom Modic, two nurses who tried Pine 22 for lunch this week. They paid $27 for two burgers, fries and sodas.

Still, fast-food restaurants are trying to step up. McDonald's now has a third-pounder Angus burger that mimics those sold in the higher-end burger restaurants.

Les Hatter, who runs several Five Guys Burgers & Fries restaurants in Central Florida, said he's not worried about new competition. Five Guys' prices are higher than fast food but a little lower than many gourmet chains.

"They're going into locales that are more high end," Hatter said. "They're actually looking for a certain person, certain demographic ... we're looking for everyone that likes a burger."

Restaurant analysts say mid-priced restaurants are the most likely to suffer from the new competition.

"You would really anticipate the places like Chili's that serve some of the bigger burgers … are feeling some of this," said Dennis Lombardi, a restaurant consultant with Ohio-based WD Partners.

With so many businesses jumping on the burger bandwagon, "not all of them are going to survive," Lombardi said. "But right now it's like the Oklahoma land rush, where everybody's trying to stake out their territory."